LEGACY Has A New Stage Manager

I would like to announce that I’ve selected a permanent Stage Manager to step in as the tribute shows’ shot-caller in the control booth for the LEGACY show. 

Cecilia ‘Ceci’ Huffman has been with LEGACY since 2010. She began following the show as a show-goer and before you knew it, she became part of the LEGACY family. Ceci has worn many hats in the production in the last five years. She has served as photographer, audio operator during theatre shows, costuming assistant for myself and later became one of two stage managers alongside Gloria Kiffmeyer. 

As of January 1, 2016, Ceci will begin her new role with LEGACY as the only stage manager for the production. Ceci understands our culture, our mission, the challenges and the production that LEGACY is. More importantly, Ceci understands me artistically, which is a whole different challenge in itself. I need to be able to trust the person in the control booth at the same time I’m running onstage in complete darkness. While I’m standing in the spotlight with 400+ stares on me, I need to trust that she will not let me down on the next lighting queue at the slightest physical gesture that I make… and time after time, she reminds me that I can trust her.

I’ve always admired Cecilia for being very mature for her young age, logical and thorough when making decisions. That is a very important thing to consider when you have one person controlling 100% of the show. Many think that I hold the most power (figuratively speaking) during the live show but the truth is that technically and literally, I am the most vulnerable. A Stage Manager holds the best cards as they control your stage timing, change time, volumes, monitors, backstage crew, dancer positioning, everything. It’s a scary feeling unless you have someone you trust.

 I’m proud to run this show alongside a friend that I adore and trust. I was very sad to see Gloria and Marques go but I was left with the comfort of knowing Ceci would step in and run this show like nothing has changed.  Let’s keep them tight, Alexandria-Style, lady. I’m so proud of you and excited to do this with you. I couldn’t be happier.   -LC

"Trust your instincts, and make judgments on what your heart tells you. The heart will not betray you" -David Gemmell

Two Founding Members Say Goodbye To LEGACY

This was a very difficult Blog post to write but I got it done... and here it is....

The show that took place at Treasure Island Resort and Casino marked a very important time in our short history.

On October 6, 2015, G.L. Berg Entertainment & LEGACY Live Entertainment, LLC brought the full-scale show to Treasure Island which was very exciting for us. We played a 90min. non-stop show on the main stage at the T.I. Event Center. Unlike the theatre version of this show, we had no intermission, no pauses, nothing. It was a very cardio-intensive show to say the least.

This show also marked what was a sad day for the production as my long-time friend and Stage Manager, Gloria Kiffmeyer was calling her last show with LEGACY. Gloria was one of the founders of LEGACY. She's seen the show grow from an amateur show to a more professional production. As a matter of fact, Gloria was actually the person who gave LEGACY its name. I'll never forget the day we were sitting around the table (her, Marques and I) coming up with ideas for a name. Originally, I was going to title the show "Who's Bad" but they felt it left us with a very narrow and stereotypical scope. "LEGACY- A Tribute to Michael Jackson!!!" She said. I recall feeling excited about a name so iconic and so long-lasting. "yes!!!" LEGACY it is". Before we made it a legal name, we took out the "Michael Jackson" and replaced it with "The King of Pop" which is just as identifiable as MJ. This was to avoid any future issues involving using Michael's name in our actual title. 

Gloria, calling the show in St. Cloud, MN (2014)

Gloria has since been married and has a family to tend to. LEGACY can be time consuming and I completely respect her decision and I will miss her dearly. She has always been my "advice-central". She's a very intelligent lady who I always look up to for reassurance when making big decisions for the group. She's always brutally honest and is quick to put me in my place if I become too demanding. I will miss that very, very much.

On the other hand, my best friend, my little brother from another mother and the third founding member of LEGACY will be leaving the show. Marques Mathhias who was the Production Manager accepted a position at sea (literally) and will no longer be part of the show. He will be working as Entertainment Staff for a big cruise liner and I can't think of a better job for him. He is AMAZING at managing and understands entertainment and client-relations. He has skills that are valuable and hard to find in someone who not only manages the back-end of an entertainment buisness but also gets onstage and kicks ass. 

LC & Marques (2013)

Marques has been with me since 2001 and has always been one of the main pillars for the show. He's the person I trust the most both, personally and professionally. He's the person who's stopped me from brining in pyro-technics and dangerous things into the show; he's Mr. Safety First.  I'm still trying to figure out how LEGACY will function without him, let alone how I will function without him. If there have been times when I've cried onstage or off, he's always there. If I need help working with clients, dancers, volunteer staff, students, he's there. If I make questionable dating decisions, he's there to lecture me and give me my dose of reality. If I need frickin' amino acid pills during a brutal show week, you know who I go to... and he's there. 

These two special people are so important to me and as devastated as I was when I learned about their departures from the show, I am happy for them. Each have their own, personal and important reasons for departing and I need to be there and support their decisions. I love them and will miss them onstage and in the control booth.

Gloria and Marques at dancer auditions (2011)

What they didn't realize is that by both of them leaving at the same time they leave one crazy alter-ego (LC Jackson) making all the creative decisions without consulting!!! Uh oh.... 

They always opted for no explosions, no cherry pickers, no rising platforms with fans and things like that...  Hehe... O..M..G...

I'll be announcing our new, permanent Stage Manager soon as I will need to fill Gloria's spot. In the interim, I will pick up the managing of the production. 

Marques, Gloria and I at our very last show, together. Treasure Island (10/6/2015)

2015 = TOO MUCH FOR ME TO JAM!!!

In 2015, LEGACY has been so busy I’ve had no time to Blog and share with you all what’s been going on with the show. Where to begin… Where to begin!!!

As some of you know, we rolled out a brand new show in the spring of 2015, which has been a complete hit amongst MJ and LEGACY fans. We added new dance songs to the show such as “This Place Hotel”, full version of “Working Day and Night” and other sexy rock songs such as “Dirty Diana” and “Give In To Me”. In addition, we added new costuming by Sue Saari Designs and awesome lighting by designer Ian Knodel.

This year alone, LEGACY was featured on radio, and scored a full page, full color article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune and was also placed on a commercial billboard recently as a result of advertising the early October Thriller performances in Burnsville, MN.

In May, we broke attendance records at SteppingStone Theatre with over 1,900 tickets sold in just two weekends. That is incredible for the size of our show.  But most importantly, LEGACY had the opportunity to play key stages such as the Saloon’s main stage during the Pride celebration in downtown Minneapolis, Treasure Island Resort & Casino, Gay 90’s and The Muse.

I cannot express how thankful and lucky I am to have such a great artistic family who is dedicated, committed and passionate about what they do. This success would not be possible without their input, their ideas and their talent.

This year has placed us right back on the top of the game and I plan to continue outputting high quality work that is tasteful and pays homage to Michael in a very positive light.  There are few MJ tribute shows in the country this size and I am very proud of the product LEGACY has become.

There is some re-structuring that is going on internally with roles and responsibilities within the production team and for those of you who follow us closely, you may be surprised (as was I) but change doesn’t necessarily have to mean ‘bad’. It’s just different. I’ll be making those announcements soon via blog as well so for those of you who follow us “Blog-Closely” can be in the know.

Thank you to all the MJ fans, facebook followers all over the world and to all the people that come see our shows! We do this for YOU. 

-LC JACKSON